The goal of all forms of socialism, including social democracies is for
everyone to "live comfortably". This may sound simplistic, but I think it is an
adequate description.
----- Original Message -----
From: Alice Dampman Humel
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 7:21 AM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Trump and Clinton's Big Night Poses Hard
Questions For Sanders Campaign and His Youthful Supporters
and “living comfortably” is not a crime. I believe that is actually what
someone like Bernie and those who support him, want for everyone, that’s part
of what he/we/they mean when we talk about income inequality, when there are
calls for the tax laws to change and make the 1%, the 0.1% and the corporations
start paying their taxes, raising the minimum wage and, hopefully, preventing
the prices of everything else from going up, too…what good does it do for
wages to go up when rent and food and water and heat all go up so that the
person working that minimum wage job is right back where he started from,
working, and working hard,for 40+ hours a week and still living in poverty…,
calls for the private health insurance system to disappear, for the gouging of
sick people to stop, both by the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical
companies, calls for quality child care for working parents to be affordable to
all, not just the wealthy, public education to be restored to its rightful
place without all this smoke and mirrors nonsense of charter schools, etc.
So, in short, creating a society, sorry, much as in the European social
democracies, where almost all “live comfortably.” Is there poverty there? Of
course. But to like here, and the means to address it are much more accessible
to those who need help.
On Mar 29, 2016, at 3:17 PM, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Also, "living comfortably" can mean just about anything. It can mean that
while I was growing up, my parents and I lived in a one bedroom apartment in
a nicely cared for apartment building with enough to eat and I think that
back in 1940, when we moved into that apartment, the rent was $45 a month.
We were living comfortably in relation to people who lived in poorly
maintained buildings with no elevators, who shared a bathroom in the
hallway. But our "comfort" wasn't equivalent to that of people who lived in
mansions on acres of property on Long Island and who had servants. Hillary
Clinton wrote that after Bill's presidency, she and Bill were, in her exact
words, "flat broke" which is interesting considering the size of the house
they purchased and its location. I read a book about Bernie recently which
described is financial situation. I don't remember the exact figures, but
his net worth was not at all impressive. I think the book said he is the
second least wealthy Senator. I have no idea about Jill Stein's financial
situation, but given the fact that she's never been a First Lady, Senator,
Secretary of State, nor given speeches to big banks, I suspect that her
wealth isn't comparable to Hillary's, perhaps not Bernie's either.
Miriamt.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Hachey
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2016 2:42 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Trump and Clinton's Big Night Poses Hard
Questions For Sanders Campaign and His Youthful Supporters
Hi Frank and Chuck,
I disagree with both of you here. Yes, it is true that both Sanders and
Stein live comfortably. But I seriously doubt that they want a Republican
president, especially given the likes of Trump and Cruz. The fact that their
candidacies could cause Trump, Cruz or Ryan to take the White House tells us
not of the evil intentions of either Sanders or Stein, but rather how badly
broken is our current system. That is, a system featuring two very powerful
parties whose leadership is bought and paid for by the corporate puppet
masters. A system where the media is equally bought and paid for which
finds itself more interested in sleaze and the horse race of elections than
in the injustice of income inequality and police brutality upon minority
communities. A system that has disillusioned and brainwashed many of our
people so badly that they act more like selfish, starving little animals
than like citizens of a democracy.
Gads! I think it's time for a drink!
Bob Hachey
